Care must be commissioned wisely and should reach out to communities through co-production, says Lord Victor Adebowale.

Care has always been a key quality marker in health and must be commissioned wisely. For me, commissioning is the means by which we understand the needs of an individual or a community in order to build a platform for procurement.

This is why co-production is so important for an effective commissioning system integrated around people and their communities. For those new to the term, co-production means delivering public services through equal and reciprocal relationships. Equal and reciprocal means professionals working together with the very people who use services and with their families and neighbours.

It's about both services and neighbourhoods becoming far more effective agents of change. By involving communities, co-production is effective in tackling health inequalities and improving mental health.

There is already good evidence that co-production works for communities. Research studies show this people-centred approach delivers improved quality, innovation and better outcomes for people, the community and the care system. The benefits are also outlined in a new report published this month by Turning Point, NHS Alliance and National Voices called Raising The Bar.

Our report shows that co-production is an important factor in health integration. It reconnects people by building and reinforcing social networks. There is another benefit too: these equal partnerships achieve these results at a lower cost. reconnects people by building and reinforcing social networks. There is another benefit too: these equal partnerships achieve these results at a lower cost.

By delivering unprecedented efficiency savings, co-production becomes an essential element of the delivery of quality, innovation, production and prevention (Qipp) across the NHS.

As members of the PPI Network, we want to put co-production centre stage at this critical time. We want to see inclusive and diverse local communities holding commissioners and providers to account. We are not naïve. We know there is a huge challenge ahead and barriers do exist to making this happen.

Effective co-production means power must be shared, for example, between commissioners, local people and communities. It means shared resources and joint budgets. Until now, joint budgeting has generally been narrow and controlled mainly by statutory bodies.Another challenge is to ensure that the co-production approach can be scaled up.

A change in approach challenges deeply entrenched cultural norms, yet change is also the big prize – and a necessity. There is only one way to ensure a free NHS survives: by enabling people to take control of their lives so they become less reliant on formal health and related services.

Policy makers from across government also need to work more closely together. They need to formulate policy in a joined-up way that supports clinical commissioners with partners such as local authorities, education and police to drive co-produced care. The challenge is to scale-up the co-production approach in health.

There are four big things that need to happen very soon if this challenge is to be met. First, we need to create local community resources then change culture and behaviours. Planning must be joined-up through health and wellbeing strategies and the joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA). Last, we need to build evidence, transparency and accountability to communities.

The health empowerment leverage project (Help) in Dartmouth is one example of how co-production is successful in improving quality and outcomes. Based on resident-led partnerships, HELP focuses on issues that matter for local residents living on six deprived rural and urban housing estates. In just one year, Help has achieved impressive results. A new dental service has been set up, anti-social behaviour has reduced, a derelict area has been transformed into a play park and relations between tenants and the local housing association have got better. Help's ultimate goal is to improve health.

Co-production can also be used to rewrite the way primary care services are delivered. GPs at Smethwick medical centre in the West Midlands have been ensuring patients with long-term conditions receive group consultations to promote self-management. The centre has been working on a care management programme to ensure patients also see the right person, at the right time in the right place. The result has been a reduction in the use of secondary care services.

It is essential that public health and other relevant data is used to inform commissioning and the JSNA.

In Hartlepool, we have been delivering Connected Care, our own model of community-led commissioning since 2006.

Over the next 12 months, the CCGs will be working with their partners and residents to develop a shared vision, hopefully with co-production at the centre. After all, the remit of the NHS Commissioning Board is to "promote innovative ways to integrate care for patients."